Robotic canines built to sniff out toxic material

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- They sniff, wag their tails, fetch and run in packs. But no one minds if these canines stick their noses into some pretty dirty stuff.

That's because they are robotic dogs, modified by engineering students at Yale University to sniff out toxic materials.

Equipped with just about everything but a wet nose, the plastic and metallic-skinned robots have spurred toxic search projects in the United States, Europe and Australia.

They are the brainchild of Natalie Jeremijenko, a lecturer in engineering at Yale and self-described technoartist.

"Technology is a social actor," she said. "These dogs are programmed into instruments for social activism. ... It's extremely important that engineers understand the social implications of their designs."

Robotic technology is increasingly being applied to repetitive factory tasks or dangerous work such as defusing bombs or finding victims in collapsed buildings.

At the same time, advances in microtechnology are leading to ever-smaller sensors, opening up a wide range of potential uses.

The robot dogs were originally designed, manufactured and marketed commercially as toys by Sony Electronics Inc., Mattel Inc. and other companies.

Jeremijenko, a mechanical engineer and computer scientist, designed the robotic dogs 18 months ago. She calls her handiwork the Feral Robotic Dog project because feral dogs are wily.

The robotic dogs' "brains" are upgraded and their "noses" programmed to pick up the scent of common volatile organic compounds -- such as paint thinners or dry cleaning fluids -- or more dangerous toxins. They also are built to navigate a variety of terrains.

In addition, cameras are placed in the dogs' hindquarters to let researchers observe their interaction with handlers.

The dogs are wired to move in packs. To collect samples from a larger area more effectively, the pack is programmed to follow the dog with the strongest sensor reading.

Of 12 robotic dogs wired at Yale, several have been put to work in nearby Hamden, where tests have found arsenic, lead and other pollutants in soil beneath a school and homes.

Four canine robots have been sniffing around a park on former Consolidated Edison property along the Bronx River in New York.

Vanessa Woods, education director at the Bronx River Arts Center, said community activists saw the project as an unusual way to raise awareness about pollution in the area. A group of teens, working with Jeremijenko, spent 12 weeks last June building and equipping the dogs.

Their sensors were designed to pick up pollutants that "we already knew were there," Woods said. "We wanted to make sure it worked." Indeed, the dogs were able to pick up the scent of toxins in puddles, she said.

Jeremijenko's project has inspired others, who plan to sic robotic dogs on sites in Belarus that were in the path of radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear plant, on sites in Australia used for atomic testing in the 1950s and on radioactive waste sites in Idaho.

"Anyone who wants to dump a robotic dog, bring them here," Jeremijenko said of her lab at Yale. "Call this the robotic dog pound."

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On the Net

xdesign.eng.yale.edu/feralrobots